An Alexandrian tale
by neoluxa
Summary: She had been living a glam lifestyle in LA before all of this. But it took the world going to shit to find her true self again, to find a balance between the girl she's been and the woman she's become. Those big Alexandria walls had kept her safe so far. But now a certain hot headed, crossbow slinging redneck was headed her way to shake things up a bit.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, I'm new to this whole fanfiction writing thing. I've been reading a lot of it over the years. And since I've been writing my whole life I figured I'd give it a go. I'm not a native English speaker/writer so go easy on me when it comes to the gramar and stuff. I love feedback so please leave a review if you've read this one. It's a TWD fanfic and it's gonna be about our favourite DD and an Original character named Tiffany. I have a rough idea about where I'm taking this thing. I'm not going to follow the exact storyline the show takes, you'll be able to see that in the conversations in this first piece already. I can say one thing already, this thing will get lemony, not in the first few chapters but we'll get there.**

 **Hugs and kisses, Neoluxa**

 **Tiffany POV**

She was standing in the beautiful 30 grand kitchen deliberating on what to cook herself for dinner that night. She chuckled to herself. It was ironic, even with the little amount of choices she had she still had a hard time making a decision. I had always been one of her weak spots, her late husband had always mocked her for it. Saying that she wouldn't be able to make a decision even if her life depended on it. Turns out she did, when the world fell to pieces and her life and the lives of everybody around her actually started depending, she had started making decisions. And we'll be damned, the outbreak had been almost two years ago now and she was still alive. Unlike her infamous husband. Her eyes drifted shut and her fingers dug into the granite countertop as she started thinking about Dave. It had been almost six months now she estimated since he died on that run. She expected tears to well up in her eyes as she thought about Dave but they didn't. He had been a good man, to her at least. Cause with his lifestyle it was a miracle he had lived to see forty even without the world turning to shit. He had been clever and he had been wealthy but it hadn't been enough to get him through life as it was right now. Some people would say he got what he had long coming.

Her mind took her to a place far from the deluxe Alexandria kitchen. _Back to when she was a barista at the busy Starbucks in LA City. She had been a young blond aspiring actress from a broken home who had come to the city looking for fame and fortune. Who had been running away from a stripper momma and stepfather number, actually she had stopped counting at age eleven. She was working three jobs at the time to support the expensive LA lifestyle and instead of finding fame and fortune she had found Dave. Or at least he had found her. He was one of the regulars, although at first he never spoke at her directly, one of his gorillas, as she would later nickname them always made the order. Dave would always be next to the car which his driver always double parked near the entrance. Smoking his Marlboro while yelling through his cellphone. She had seen him glancing at her over his ray ban shades multiple times before he came in himself after a few months. It was the first time she had seen him up close. Tall, dark, handsome. Gangster written all over him. And when he took off those sunglasses for the first time she had been taken back by the intense chocolate colored look in his eyes. She had been smiling like a sixteen year old schoolgirl and on her next break she and her colleague had gone crazy over the fact that he had actually come in to the shop and ordered his own coffees. Since that day he had pulled out all the stops to win her over and despite all the red flags and warnings from her coworkers she had agreed to go on a date with him._

 _He was obviously wealthy and she was a broke young girl with nothing and nobody to fall back on. Her mother, whom was never a great role model for a girl in her teens, had only taught her one lesson. Men and women both have a source of power in this world, for men it's money and for us women it's our sexuality. She had always hated the idea and moving from trailer park to trailer park when she was a young girl, every time going after a new man in her mother's life, had given her a disgust for men in general. She had left that life behind her as soon as she turned eighteen. But then when she met Dave, she was twenty one and tired of struggling through life without ever getting ahead. And on that first date with Dave she finally realized what her mother had been talking about. The man was obviously crazy about her, he bought her a Cartier bracelet for Christ's sake on that first date. She had taken it to the nearest pond shop the next day to see what it was worth, 20 grand. That was her chance in life. She thought Dave was attractive, a gentleman towards her and she could laugh at his jokes. It was enough for her, at that point in her life to build a relationship upon._

 _She had soon learnt about how Dave got so wealthy, he was a club owner and a high class drug dealer. It didn't bother her much, he was kind to her and she knew he would go above and beyond for her. She quit her three jobs and stopped going to auditions. Finally she could have the lifestyle she had always dreamed off, being a gangster honey yes… But she really couldn't care less. She liked Dave, thought he was handsome, respected him. They had a great life together. And when he had presented her with a 20 karat diamond ring in a tiffany box one night and asked her to be his wife she had been truly happy and said yes with true affection towards him in her heart. Five years later Dave was in his early forty's and looking to settle down a bit when they had bought one of the villa's in the Alexandria complex. Dave had funded the whole thing, a money laundering operation. Dirty drugs money washed white true a housing development project far from the LA scene. She had been glad that he calmed down a bit with growing older and when he said he bought the biggest of the houses for them to live in, she could see herself having a normal life with him and maybe even a few children to call her own. A few months later the news flashes had started to become disturbing and when things started to get ugly he had explained to her the plan he and the architect of the development had come up with. Fortify the housing development, make it safe, and make it the perfect sustainable hide out. They had gotten there just in time, she thought about Jesse, one of Dave's gorillas who had gotten himself killed trying to let them escape from their LA condo. The primal need to survive in her had taken over that night. She remembered the look in Dave's eyes when she had plunged the fire extinguisher from their Range Rover in the then dead Jesse's skull. It had been a mix of disbelief and marvel, he wasn't used to her taking charge. Throughout their relationship she had let him take the shots, be the man, cause they had been living in a world where he was 'the man'. But this new world, it was a whole other kind of dark, something that fit her somehow, it brought back a survival instinct in her that she hadn't needed since…_

'Tiffany!' She came out of her day dream when she heard her neighbor shouting out her name. 'Are you coming? We're going to prep tonight's party at Deanna's place?' Charlene was shouting at her. She had been standing in her kitchen for over an hour and still hadn't eaten a thing. Ow shit, she cursed to herself. 'Yeah doll, I'm coming.' She sighed, she was a changed woman, people in here where crazy, and losing Dave had made her look at this new world in a whole other light. It was the dammn apocalypse, people where dying, hell the undead where roaming the streets and in here, in their hide out, people were throwing cocktail parties. Things were bound to go south, but when they did, she would be ready. She had survived being a blond beautiful teen in trailer parks all over the country, she had survived being a gangster sweetheart in the underworld of the LA nightlife. She wasn't going down in this gone to shit world. No, she would be ready when trouble found her.

She tried to stop her thoughts as she headed out to greet Charlene and help her with whatever it was she needed help with. Little did she know trouble was definitely heading her way, and it wouldn't be the undead who would shake up her quite Alexandria life. But someone very much alive…

 **Daryl POV**

Daryl stood near the far most corner of the shed their group had spent the night in. He was trying to figure out this Aaron dude. He didn't trust it one bit, after what he had seen in Woodbury and after that Terminus he wasn't so keen on relying on some random stranger for the safety of their group. They had become like family to him, hell Rick had become more of a brother to him than Merle had even been. He saw the same doubts he had reflected in Rick's eyes, It sounded too good to be true, this Alexandria place. He looked around the shed, his eyes lingering on little Judith, curled up and sound asleep in Carl's arms. A faint smile formed on his narrow lips. How he loved that little one. He wouldn't let anyone else of his small family get hurt. Losing Beth had nearly killed him. Some days he still couldn't believe she wasn't there anymore. Losing her had made a deep wound in his heart, before her he thought he didn't have one of those but she had shown him what love could be like. They had never been like really together but he know that what he had felt for her was the closest thing to love he had ever experienced in his whole life. The memory of carrying her dead body out of the hospital made a knot form in his stomach. He could still hear her beautiful voice, see her amazing smile and remembered the way her hair smelled when she would hug him. It used to make him feel so uncomfortable when she did that but right now he would give his life to give her one more hug.

Drawn back in his memories of Beth he stood in the dark shed when he met Carol's eyes, she held her head to the side and gave him a questioning look. She saw he was worrying and thinking about something. That woman knew him too dammn well. He shook his head slightly as an answer to reassure her that he was ok. He wouldn't ever admit it to her, but she was like a sister to him. In the same way that he felt this brotherly connection towards Rick. He knew her feelings for him had been more than just that back in the day but she had come to terms with the fact that he just didn't feel the same way about her. His attention shifted when Michonne started speaking 'Rick, I really think we should take a chance on this one…' she said in her typical hushed voice. She looked Rick in the eyes and Daryl could see the determination in her gaze. He grinned, he knew right then and there that they would be going. Maybe the others hadn't noticed yet but he was a born observer and he had seen what was going on between Rick and Michonne. Those two had a special kind of bond and he knew Rick would not be able to refuse her plea.

He respected Michonne, a lot, he didn't always agree with her, but the way she had earned her place within this group, the way she had been out on her own for all that time. That girl was as tough as they come. He looked at her and her serious gaze locked his eyes, he nodded at her in agreement, Rick followed her gaze to his and raised a questioning brow towards him. They communicated without words as only family can. He repeated his nod towards Rick. Rick shifted his attention to Glenn and Maggie, 'What'd you guys think we should do?' Rick wanted everybody to have a say, although he had seen Rick change over the last two years, from the peace keeping sheriff who took on the leadership role to a strong survivor who had been keeping his family, all of them, safe for all this time. Maggie spoke first, 'We should, we can't keep being on the run like this, we have to give this place a shot, for ourselves, for Judith.' She smiled at the little bundle wrapped in Carl's arms. Glenn nodded and lay his hand on Maggie's knee, 'I agree, I mean, we've been through hell already, how bad can it be?' Aaron sat kneeled next to his backpack, the photo's he had shown them still in his hands. He knew the decision had been made.

Daryl gave him a stern look, don't get too cocky you son of a bitch, he thought to himself. He would keep an eye on the stranger and he would keep his guard up. This Alexandria place could be their saving but it could just as well be their downfall. Abraham had taken a place next to him, 'I don't trust this dude one bit.', he grunted between his teeth. 'That makes two of us, but we'll see, one wrong move and there will be a bolt between those eyes of his.' Daryl responded quietly.

 **Tiffany POV**

She was standing near one of the windows in Deanna's big living room. The whole community of Alexandria had gathered for this cocktail party. Every so often Deanna and her husband Reg hosted one of those celebrations. It gave the illusion of normality and to Tiffany's surprise people actually fell for it. She had been going along with this whole charade ever since they got here. People here still treated her as the woman she had been in the old world. They had talked in the beginning, off course they had. She was Tiffany Alexander, the dammn development had been named after her husband. She was the trophy wife, the gangster honey, the lazy gold digger that hadn't lifted a finger in her whole life… That was how people saw her before all of this, they only showed respect because they were afraid of Dave and his infamous reputation. She hadn't cared about all of that, the whispers, the looks, it didn't get to her. She knew who she was and that couldn't be further from what people thought about her. She held back a laugh when she saw her own reflection in the window. What a difference with the woman who arrived at this place. She used to go to this fancy salon every Friday back when they lived in LA, her platina extensions always perfectly blown, long manicured nails, never leaving the house without make up on, always wearing ten inch heels except when she was working out. The woman who was staring back at her from the window was still beautiful, her blond curly hair flowed shining over her shoulders and her big blue eyes still had that sparkle to them. Her body had even become more muscular since she trained more often in here. But her finger nails were always short and dirty from gardening, her wardrobe had been cut back to jeans and sneakers and her face had a few lines that weren't there before all of this.

She took a sip of the glass of red wine she had been holding in her left hand. With her arms crossed in front of her she was looking at the big fences that were shielding them from the outside world. She wondered how the world looked nowadays. There had been a form of gender discrimination going on at this place since day one. The men went on runs, hell they even started going on rescue missions to look for other survivors after about a year. But the ladies were confined to life inside the walls. Cooking, gardening, cleaning, sawing, the domestic life. Not her cup of tea. It had been a hot topic between Dave and her when he was still alive. She had pleaded for him to take her with him on one of his runs, trying to convince him she was strong enough, brave enough, that she could handle it. One time she had even asked Deanna, since she had become kind of the mayor of this stronghold. Deanna had laughed and told her to let the men handle the dirty work, told her she was far too pretty for that ugly world out there. Three weeks later they had brought back Dave from a run that went south. He had been dead by the time they got him here. And all she had been able to think when they told her was, 'That wouldn't have happened to me, I'm the survivor, he's just a business man who turned to crime.'

A soft hand on her shoulder startled her and forced her back into the present. 'Whoo didn't mean to scare you.' Aiden had come up behind her, he had this sweet grin on his face that he kept just for her. She smiled at him, 'I know, I was just caught up in my own thoughts…' Aiden nodded, he assumed she was thinking about Dave, and she had been, in a way. 'You want me to get you some more wine, gorgeous?' he asked her, his hand still softly lingering on her shoulder. She shook her head and took a step back so he had to remove his hand. 'No, thanks Aiden, I can't hold my liquor like I used to.' He grinned, 'Well maybe that was my intent, get you drunk, fool around a bit…' He winked at her. He had been flirting with her ever since he noticed that the relationship between her and Dave began to crumble under the weight of the apocalypse. She sighed, he was a handsome guy, but she just wasn't into him. He was too much the boy next door, too much the perfect son in law. She liked her guys a little rough around the edges, some people would say she had a thing for bad boys. 'Keep on dreaming Aiden baby, you wouldn't be able to handle me…' she gave him a big smile. The boy was harmless, he was her age but she felt so much older than him. Her life had been such a rollercoaster and he had been the son of wealthy parents, the perfect football playing college kid. They had absolutely nothing in common. She liked him tough, he was sweet, as a friend, companionship. Almost like a Labrador or something. He took her rejection gracefully as always with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders. 'You can't blame me for trying.'

She changed the subject. 'Any word from Aaron? He's still out looking for survivors? How long has it been? Four days now?' A look of worry came over Aiden's face, 'Yeah, still nothing, he should've been back by now.' She kept silent, in a few days she would know, either their community would be growing or they would have to expand the make shift cemetery they had made with yet another grave.

They talked some more about the daily stuff within the community, gossiped about their neighbors and tried to fool themselves into thinking this was just a normal 'old world' party, no walkers, no death, no grief. After she had stayed long enough to not come off as rude for leaving she started saying her goodbyes, claiming the red wine made her so tired. She walked towards her own villa. A huge white building two houses from Deanna's place.

As she walked the double stairs heading towards her bedroom she didn't think the huge place felt empty. She really felt at home in the house Dave had let her design according to her taste. But when she stepped in to the king-sized bed in the master bedroom she started feeling her body long for the touch of another human being. Was it Aiden's flirtations that finally started getting to her? Or had it just been too dammn long since anyone had touched her like that? All she knew was that there was a pounding ache deep down inside her that made her feel lonely every time she went to sleep alone. She let out a long sigh and turned to her side, ignoring the ache between her legs and the feeling of the sheets brushing against her hard nipples. How could she be horny? It was the fucking apocalypse, her husband was dead, this was bullshit. And she obligated herself to go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of my own little attempt at writing a TWD fanfic. The first chapter has been some kind of prologue, a little introduction chapter, some background info on my OC. You may love or hate her but she's complicated, there are layers to her and it will take a very strong personality to get through to her… Sounds like anyone we know? Leave me some feedback in the reviews and I'll keep on posting.**

 **Katkloss: Thanks for reviewing, it's nice to read people are actually liking my brainchild**

 **Breena: Thanks for the review. I get where you're coming from with the paragraphs, I'll try to keep an eye on it. It's good to get some constructive feedback.**

 **Hugs and kisses, Neoluxa.**

 **Tiffany POV**

She woke the next morning feeling more exhausted then when she had gone to bed. She sighed and threw back the sheets as she stepped out of it. The light coming through the curtains was still faint, it must have been early in the morning. Her sleep had been filled with dreams and memories. Since she'd met Dave the dreams had stopped, the nightmares that had tortured her since her childhood had gone away when he was sleeping next to her. But after his death they had come back, worse, with now not only the hell she'd been through before all of this in them but also the walkers of the present.

Standing in her walk in closet she pulled out some yoga pants and a clean white T-shirt that had been Dave's. His smell still lingered in some of his clothes and she liked to wear them during her workouts. She grabbed an apple of her kitchen counter and took a bottle of water out of the fridge before descending into the basement. They had delivered all of the gym equipment three weeks before all hell broke loose. Every morning she trained for a few hours before starting her work around the community. She needed to be in the best shape possible, ready to run or fight when it was necessary. Dave had told her she was paranoid for thinking like that, Alexandria was safe according to him and he had told her time in time again that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. But then again Dave was dead now.

The basement stretched out underneath the whole house and it looked a lot like the gym she used to go to back in LA. It had everything from separate showers and a steam cabin to treadmills and even a pool. The pool never saw a drip of water though. It just sat there now, empty. She never used the treadmills neither, it would've been a waist of power since she could just as easily go for a run within the gates. She grabbed the towel she had left there yesterday from the handle bar and draped it around her neck. As she grabbed the weights and started exercising she let the images she'd seen that night in her sleep flow free and let all her anger out.

Two hours later she was making her way over to the garden where she was going to help out Jessie planting vegetables. She'd calmed down after her workout and felt empowered by the hot shower she'd taken afterwards. She was anxious to see Jessie, she hadn't come to the party the night before and the fact that her husband Pete wasn't there either made her suspect the worst.

They'd been in Alexandria for about a month or two when she had put the pieces together about Jessie and Pete. Shy, kind and silent as Jessie was, she would never had told Tiffany her big secret, out of shame, out of loyalty to her deadbeat husband but when Tiffany had confronted her with her suspicions she had broken down in tears and told her all about it. They had become good friends and Tiffany always felt kind of guilty she couldn't do anything to fix the terrible situation her friend was in.

The truth was they needed Pete, he was a doctor and in this new world that was a strong asset. She had told Dave Jessie's story that very same night and had pushed him to do something about it. Told him he needed to threaten Pete or something, scare him, make sure he wouldn't lay a hand on his wife or their children ever again. They had argued all night about it and Dave had refused, he had said that Pete was too important to the community and that Jessie had made her own bed by staying with him even before all of this. Tiffany had been furious and had blamed him for being a coward. In the old world he had killed people over far less and now when he needed to step up he bluntly refused? It was one of the first events that caused their relationship to show it's cracks.

She on the other hand hadn't tried to hide the fact that she knew all about Pete and despised him for it. On more than one occasion she had bumped heads with the man after she'd spotted another black eye or bruise on Jessie. They'd both threatened to kill each other and each time she had tried to convince Jessie to take the kids and just leave. Her villa was big enough for all of them, but each time Jessie refused and Tiffany felt powerless.

She had almost reached the garden when she heard Charlene call her name. 'Tiffany! Jess! Aaron's back, he's got people! Come to the front gate.' She swallowed, survivors… It had been months since they had any of those. She felt relieved that Aaron made it back in one piece, he was a good guy. But she also felt a knot of anticipation in her throat, you never knew with new people. They had already thrown out some folks who couldn't adjust or who weren't willing to pull their weight around the community. She hurried to the front gate and reached it just in time to see three cars roll in. Jessie had caught up to her and was yelling for her sons to get inside the house.

The whole community had stepped outside and dropped their work to see who it was Aaron had brought back with him this time. When they started getting out of the vehicles she found herself short for breath. Oh my, there were many of them, and they looked… almost bewildered. The realization of how bad it must be out of the gates hit her. She watched them spill out of the cars and seized them up one by one, they all looked though and dirty and most of all they all had that intense, serious look of disbelief in their eyes. They were looking at this place, at them, with distrust and they were all weaponed up to the max. They truly looked dangerous.

Her attention shifted when a dark haired man jumped out of the last car. He had a crossbow slung over his shoulder and was wearing a sleeveless leather biker jack with angel wings on the back. He must 've been a few inches taller than her. He had an athletic body and in that sleeveless jack she could see his well-formed biceps flex as he brought his hand to his narrow lips. His hair was long and dirty and shielded half of his face but she could make out a strong jawline and cheek bones. She felt her stomach turn, he had white trash hillbilly written all over him. The sight of him immediately threw her back to the trailer parks from her childhood. She could almost smell the mix of cheap whiskey, cigarette smoke and old sweat that had been the first thing she smelled every morning waking up as a child. Flashbacks of her last stepfather, the way he yelled at her, the way his greedy fingers had roamed over her flesh… She closed her eyes, no, she wasn't letting those memories in.

When she opened her eyes again the man was staring right back at her. She froze when their eyes locked. He had these steely blue eyes, bluer than she had ever seen them. They felt out of place, like they couldn't belong to him. This eyes of an angel on this good for nothing type of asshole. She looked away first and decided she was going to stay as far away from him as possible. Hell, if he was anything like she'd thought he would be, he wouldn't last in here for more than a week.

She flinched when Jessie grabbed a hold of her arm. 'Oh my god', she whispered silently. Tiffany looked at her friend and saw a look of disbelief and surprise on her face. She followed her gaze and her eyes landed on the teen boy with a huge sheriffs hat on that was pulling something out of his backpack. At first she thought it was a doll or something, that the boy had gone crazy from growing up in this fucked up world. But when he started comforting the doll and she actually heard the soft but unmistakable cries that were coming from that direction she realized it was an actual baby.

She felt her jaw drop, the baby in his arms looked still young, definitely not over two years old. That meant… She shivered, these people, they had somehow survived this apocalypse out there for all this time. And on top of that they had brought a baby into this world. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. How…? When the man standing next to the teen boy shifted his weight she looked at him and saw an uncomfortable look in his eyes. She came back from the shock she'd experienced, she looked around her people and saw everybody staring at them, staring like they were some kind of freaks.

They'd been standing there for mere minutes but it already felt like an eternity. She grabbed herself together, took a long breath and ran her fingers through her curls. These people deserved a chance a the safety of Alexandria, that baby needed to be safe. She started walking towards the man who was standing next to the boy. He was definitely his father, they looked alike, a lot. The way he stood there and the way his people were looking at him betray the fact that he was the leader of this group. He had a certain sense of determination and arrogance over him that she'd seen in Dave back when he was a manager at the nightclubs.

She straightened her shoulders when she reached him and put out her hand for him to shake it. 'Welcome to Alexandria, you must think we're rude for staring at ya folks like that but we've just haven't seen new people in a while. Let alone a baby.' She glared at the baby in the arms of the young boy standing next to him and gave them a warm smile. He took her hand and shook it firmly. The look in his eyes softened a bit, 'Yeah well, we're pretty surprised too, this place… it's just… We didn't think something like this existed.' She gave him a genuinely sweet smile, 'well, it does…' she added.

Aaron had been pulling stuff out of the trunk of the first car and made his way over to them. 'Well, I see you two have met already. Rick, this is Tiffany, her husband used to own this place. Tiff, this is Rick Grimes. He's kind of the leader of this group.' Aaron speaking up was like a cue to the other members of the community to start moving again. They slowly made their way to the newcomers and started introducing themselves to them. She released Rick's hand when Deanna came up to them and started taking control of things. Tiffany stepped back, Deanna was good at this stuff. She had never aspired a leadership role in this place.

She went over to the boy holding the baby and started talking to them. 'Hello pretty one, aren't you a cutie?' She cooed to the little baby girl he was holding. He smiled at her. 'She is, isn't she? Her name is Judith.' She turned her attention towards the boy now and smiled. 'Is she your sister? You've got the same eyes.' He nodded. 'I'm Carl,' he said, 'Rick's our father.' She shook his hand and didn't ask about a mother. Since he was the one holding the baby she assumed she didn't make it.

She made her way around the other survivors, introducing herself and learning their names. They all seemed really nice, a bit held back but who could blame them? Aaron had convinced them to come back to this unknown place and they had had to believe him on only his word. She would also be keeping her guard up if she was in their shoes. She looked around to see if there was still somebody she hadn't introduced herself to when she spotted the hillbilly standing a few yards away. She cursed inwardly, she knew she had to introduce herself, people would find it odd if she didn't and she wanted to avoid questions.

She sighed and walked up to him. When she stopped in front of him and raised a hand for him to shake she flinched a bit at his eyes seizing her up and down, taking in every curve of her body. She spoke, with a tremble in her voice that was unlike her. 'Hi, I'm Tiffany, welcome to Alexandria.' He hesitated to take her hand but eventually did. 'Daryl.' He grunted in this low, husky voice. It was just one word but she could make out this heavy Southern accent. She immediately felt nauseous again. His hand in hers was warm, his handshake firm. She felt waves of electricity roam through her body at his touch. As if she had been bitten by a snake she released his hand and gave him a faint nod before turning around and walking in to Deanna's place. She hated that man's guts. He was trouble, white trash, a redneck who wouldn't fit into their civilized little world. She wanted him gone and she wanted him gone now.


End file.
